Getting Air Ready for Publication

I have been overwhelmed with the reviews and reception my first novel, “Earth” has received. You have no idea, after so many rejections from the traditional publishing world, how wonderful this has been for me. I was terrified to self-publish and had to think about it for a very long time before I finally decided maybe it was a good idea. When people first started talking about the e-book self-publishing programs for Kindle and Nook I dismissed them out of hand and asked people to stop suggesting it to me and just kept right on writing in my series and polishing my query letter.

I definitely did not start writing, or go into self-publishing, for the money. Oh, I wont lie to you and say I wouldn’t mind being successful enough in sales that I don’t have to worry about a day job. Honestly, that’s the dream. Really that’s what everyone wants – to work at a job that they love and can make a living at it. But I started writing because I always liked it and I wanted to tell stories other people wanted to read. So when I finished the first draft of “Earth” I put it down and walked away from it and just started writing “Air” right away.

I am very excited to publish “Air” now that I know what to expect. So far my beta readers have all reported enjoying the second installment to my Elemental Series. I was lucky enough to find a new beta reader in my new friend and aspiring writer, Juanita. Thanks to Juanita I feel even more confidant about publishing “Air” as she found a few glaring plot holes that needed a coat of spackle. Let that be a lesson to all of you writers and aspiring writers – you need quite a few pairs of eyes to go over your work before its ready. I was a pretty arrogant essay writer in college and I learned a hard lesson from my English prof about going over my work before turning it in. If he knew you were turning in a first draft – even if that first draft was good enough to get an ‘A’ – he would give your paper a full letter grade lower than it might’ve deserved. He wanted to instill in us that writing is rewriting. I hated him a little bit for that when I found that out, but now I am grateful for that lesson. I even invited him to my wedding (to which he and his lovely wife came).

This week I finalized the cover for “Air” working with a new cover artist, Stephanie Mooney. While Claudia Mckinney will always have a place in my heart and I will always recommend her and her amazing art, I just couldn’t afford her this time around. But what started as a sad story quickly turned into a fairytale, happily ever after ending with Stephanie. I am so proud of the cover she developed for me; I am just on pins and needles waiting to show you guys. I do not yet have the official pub date for “Air” but I can tell you, it shouldn’t be too far in the future. I hope you all are as excited about it as I am.